Candefero Channel Partner of the Year Awards

- Recognition for top-performing partners in EMEA and APAC: now open for nominations

Shanghai, Palo Alto, Singapore and Reading – Thursday, 10 May 2012

Despite the challenging economy, the IT industry continues to grow and channel partners remain an important factor behind that success. In a continuous survey* of members of Candefero – the influential global channel partner community run by analyst firm Canalys – 80% reported positive year-on-year growth in the first four months of 2012, with a quarter expecting growth of 15% or more.

‘The channel’s accomplishments have come through sheer persistence, creativity and business agility in the face of huge challenges,’ said Alastair Edwards, Canalys Principal Analyst. ‘Their customers are under severe budgetary pressures, while technological change and the need to improve and diversify their skills means partners must continuously adapt to stay competitive. Consequently, we are proud to be able to announce the formation of these new awards to recognize those partners who have excelled.’

Nominations open today for the Candefero Channel Partner of the Year Awards. Two award programs are running in parallel for EMEA and APAC partners, with the winners of the prestigious prizes being announced at the respective Canalys Channels Forum, held in Barcelona from October 8 and Singapore from October 30.

Channel partners can be nominated in five categories. The Revenue Growth Partner award recognizes those companies who not only have the highest growth, but also the initiatives in place to sustain it. The winner of the Online Sales Partner award will be a company that already transacts more than a quarter of its business online and can demonstrate a significant growth trend in its business. The Mobility Partner award acknowledges a track record of successful customer engagement in delivering enterprise mobility solutions – one of the key trends of recent years. Another industry trend has shaped the IT-as-a-Service Partner award, which recognizes partners that have embraced the concept of cloud computing and are successfully selling infrastructure, platforms or software ‘as a service’ on a per user, per-month basis. Finally, the Innovation Partner award is open to partners who have grown their business by innovating either in technology, delivery, sales and marketing or by addressing new territories or customer segments.

‘We have made the nomination process as open and inclusive as possible,’ Edwards added. ‘Anyone can nominate a channel partner, including vendors, distributors, customers and the channel partners themselves. Nominees will be required to go through a simple acceptance and verification process and will be given Candefero membership if they are not already part of the community. The shortlisted candidates in each category will be interviewed by Canalys analysts in the run up to the judging later in the year.’

About Candefero

Candefero is the exclusive global channel partner community run by Canalys. It provides the channel with an online forum to come together to discuss the burning issues affecting their businesses and to get their opinions across to senior executives within vendor organizations. They can also gain access to high-quality, independent market intelligence, trends analysis and advice from Canalys. Membership is free to qualifying employees of authorized channel partners only.

* From the Candefero ‘Heartbeat’ continuous survey: over 500 responses from January to April 2012.

About the Canalys Channels Forum

The Canalys Channels Forum is the only independent event that unites senior managers from leading technology vendors, distributors and channel partners to discuss industry trends, forge new business relationships and create sales opportunities. In addition to vendor keynotes and theater presentations, the event will feature a variety of workshops, more than 2,000 senior one-to-one meetings and a prestigious gala dinner, among other networking activities. The Canalys Channels Forum EMEA will take place from 8 to 10 October, at the Hotel Arts and Pullman, Barcelona. The Canalys Channels Forum APAC will be held at the Ritz-Carlton Millenia, in Singapore from 30 October to 1 November.

About Canalys

Canalys delivers smart market insights to IT, channel, and service provider professionals around the world. Our customer-driven analysis and consulting services empower businesses to make informed decisions and generate sales. We stake our reputation on the quality of our data, our innovative use of technology, and our high level of customer service.

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